How to Make $500 a Month Reading Romance Novels
When Christine Wheary, 50, learned she could earn extra money with her guilty pleasure, she was beyond thrilled. Read on to learn her secrets so you can start cashing in too!
“My full-time job is as an educator for a clinical laboratory science program, but I used to do some writing on the side. A few years ago while writing for a Side Hustle School podcast, I discovered the Art of Proofreading, a company that offers courses for people who like to read and want to find work as proofreaders.
“I signed up for the $500 course that taught me editing skills and proper grammar and punctuation. I learned that authors are looking for someone who is familiar with their genre and understand what readers want in a story. And since I love to read romance novels during my downtime, I realized it could be a great way to make money for something I was doing anyway! The course also explained how to market my business, and my Instagram account turned out to be a great way to find romance writers who could potentially hire me. I’d follow them, comment on their posts, and build trust. Some writers would offer an advance copy for beta, or test, readers to give feedback. Although it wasn’t paid, I knew it would help me build my business. I also found new clients by contacting the romance writers I liked, either on Instagram or by email, to tell them about my services.
“When I work, usually with independent authors, I read their manuscript, look for and correct typos, punctuation, and grammar errors. I also do light copy editing, correcting mistakes and repetitions. The amount of time it takes depends on the length of the book and the quality of the writing, but I can finish a 65,000-word manuscript (I charge by word count) in about 10 days. I work about 10 hours a week, at night or on the weekends when I’m traveling with my husband in our RV. I make around $500 a month-money that allows me to travel to the South and to Europe.”
This article originally appeared in our print magazine.
